Valentine's Day Tributes: League of Legends
by Shifter2323
Summary: Well, with another special occasion comes another set of one-shots. With the dance up and coming soon, what will the champions of the league, and more importantly, the summoners, do? Rated T just to be safe as usual. Will be accepting requests, but no Yuri, Yaoi or lemony stuff (this is T, after all).
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yeah, hello, Shifter2323 here again!

A few things if you keep track of my stories…

I haven't been able to publish anything for Advent, and I don't know what the heck Helium is gonna do for Tidecaller's. And to all of you who read those stories…we're both really sorry :(

And of course, if you didn't read the title, you'll know what time of the year it is: Valentine's day! Obviously that means lolligrams, dating, dances and of course, for me at least, a series of one-shots! (which hopefully I will do more of this time)

Back to advent, I'm kind of really having writer's block. I might just butcher the story, I might put it on hiatus like I've done for a lot of other things, or I might actually be able to clear my mind! Either way, best of luck to all of you, and remember, have an awesome day!

Ezreal was bored. And by bored, he was really bored.

There weren't any tombs to explore, at least none that piqued his interest. Obviously there were no maps to make, since he obviously didn't need them. And worse yet, it was Valentine's day of all times. He couldn't imagine why people fell in love at this time. In fact, he found the whole idea of slow-dancing preposterous. Either way though, it wasn't that which bothered him, but the fact that he was forced to decorate a dance room he probably wouldn't even be going to.

He rolled his eyes. _Why the heck do I have to be doing this, _h_e _muttered to himself as he begrudgingly hung strand after strand of pink roses in the hallway of judgements.

Little did he know however, that someone was watching him as he trudged along.

Summoner Julia was watching the figure that decorated the halls and adorned it in decoration. She admired his hair, his wavy blond hair, and the way his green eyes sparkled with curiosity. She imagined the very gauntlet that channeled deadly energy touching her face, and she sighed on the inside.

Of course, she wouldn't have been alone had it not been for _the incident…_

A couple hours ago…

Three figures sat in a circle, playing a gradually escalating game of truth or dare, as they called it.

"So, Shifter, Truth or Dare?" One of the figures asked.

"Hmm…Truth." He said.

This actually went on for a really long time. It was a form of cheap entertainment, as Ezreal would say. That is, until _it happened. _

"Well, I suppose we should all be going home right now. Chibi left hours ago." Shifter said.

The other figure grinned a malicious smile and said, "You know, you should totally ask Lulu out to strawberry picking," She said. "She would totally love that."

A moment of awkward silence as no one spoke about her daring proposal.

"Fine, I'll do it, but only if you ask Yasuo out to one of those traditional Ionian ceremonies."

The figure gasped and said "Never!"

All of them laughed and Julia said "Fine, we should all y'know, do the trial, okay? Does it sound like a plan?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?"

"Okay…?"

"And you Julia, how about you?"

"….fine…"

Back to the present.

_And that is how I ended up doing this stuff. Ironically enough, I got myself into it, not someone else got me into it. In fact, I don't even know what to do right now. They would be able to help me, but they're gone. They should be here, but they are doing their own things, and it's kind of because of me, for better or for worse. _

Suddenly, a soft tap on the shoulder interrupted her from her train of thought.

She turned around and found herself inches away from the grinning face of Ezreal, the Prodigal Explorer.

"Hello, summoner. What might you be doing now?" Ezreal asked.

"Wellactually…Idon'tknow!" She said.

"Slow down, you're rambling!" He said, a soft chuckle escaping his throat.

_Ask him the question, she tried to tell herself, but it wouldn't come out, no matter how hard she tried. It was kind of like how sometimes, mice would get stuck in little mouse traps and not be able to get out, except this time the question was the mouse and she was the trap. _

"I don't know!" She repeated, as casually as she could possibly be.

"Alright, if you say so." He said, almost as though he knew something was off.

"Okay…bye." She said on the outside, sounding as happy as she could, but on the inside, she was really annoyed with herself for not being able to get the words out.

She didn't see Ezreal the next day or the day after, but she couldn't get much done either. She was too busy thinking about Ezreal and how she could do the trial and not fail, or how next time, she could give him something. But she was a summoner. And he was a champion. _What could she give to him? _She thought over the next few days.

Finally, she had an idea. As a jeweler, as the professionals called it, a gemologist, she could give him something he would never ever find elsewhere, and it would blow his mind!

Over the next few days, she gathered up several different components for the Stormbound necklace that she was making for Ezreal. She had never done something so large before, but she knew that when she was done, it would turn out great.

And so, she traveled everywhere. She went to Demacia to find their famous lightforged gold, which reflected sunlight like a mirror, but was as golden as any gold. Then she went to Ionia to find a storm crystal, which was the condensed essence of the air god, Vyxar, as Janna called him. Finally, she went to piltover to gather the tools she needed, such as the portable furnace and the soulbinder.

Returning home, satisfied with her findings and ready and set to work on the necklace, she readied the portable furnace and her magic, and began to craft. It was a long and arduous process that would take time, and even one mistake would lead to disaster, but she wouldn't make one. She couldn't.

Finally, after numerous days of work, and several burns later, she emerged with the Stormbound necklace that she tried so hard to make. It glistened like lightning and was surrounded with mystical tornado-like shapes. Touching it sent a surge of energy up her arm. Hurriedly, she ran as fast as she could to the hallway where Ezreal was.

She finally caught up to him, still in the same spot as before. Quietly, she tapped his shoulder, like a feather falling from the sky.

"E-Ez?" She whispered quietly.

"Yeah?" He asked in a very bored voice. It wasn't exactly his fault that he was hanging roses for the past 5 days.

"I got s-something for you!" She said, unable to contain a slight squeal.

Ezreal looked at the mystical pendant at first with confusion, then with interest, then in amazement as he put the necklace on. The patterns began to glow, and Julia felt her heartbeat quicken as she realized how much he enjoyed the present.

"Oh my goodness…that's amazing!" Ezreal said.

"Than-" She was about to say, but the necklace turned a dull grey. She watched in horror and in sadness as the necklace first cracked, then crumbled to dust.

The words didn't come out.

She didn't even know what to say. She simply took in a deep, wispy breath, almost like that of a strangled animal, and said, "W-w-well…I'll see you l-l-later, ok-kay?"

Fear overtook her as she ran into the nearest room, slamming the door behind her shut. She tried to hold it back for as long as she could, but she couldn't as she buried her face in whoever's pillow it was, and began to cry quietly. _I screwed up really badly this time, didn't I? How'll he ever forgive me?_

Eventually, she stopped crying and exhausted, fell asleep on the bed she was laying on, inhaling the scent of detergent.

_The darkness was gone, and replacing it, was light. In the light, there was a hooded, winged, human-like figure. _

"_Congratulations," Was all the figure said. _

_Then he chuckled and he was gone, and all went dark again._

Eventually, the light returned again, not in the form of true light, but in the form of streaks of sunlight coming through the window, straining to get by, almost like those words in her throat the other day.

She raised her head and turned around, and found herself face-to-face with a letter. She really wasn't in the mood for letters, especially after the events of the previous day, so she was about to just walk out the door of whoever's room she was in, until of course, she was met with a face.

Not just any face though. She was met with the face of Ezreal.

"So, you're awake." He said.

"Yeah…" She began, but didn't have the energy to say anything as she sighed in exasperation.

"Anyways, I have two things that you should probably know. Number one, you do realize that you're in my bed right now, right?" He said, then laughed.

"Oh…" Was all she could say.

"And number two, I think you're a really cool person. Like the kind of person you are, anyways. It takes some serious skill to make a Stormbound necklace for one, and for two, it takes a brave person to do what you did. I have to say, I might just go to the dance with someone," He said, winking.

She was silent, and she didn't know what to say, but at that moment, she didn't have to say anything, because he accepted, no, embraced her for who she was, and that was all that mattered for the time being.

So instead all she did was hug him.


	2. Chapter 2

_Summoner Xender, also known as Andrew, is a prolific player of assassins, fighters and a player who enjoys playing with his friends. Xender enjoys long walks in Noxus, baseball and hanging out. He dislikes arrogant players despite the fact that he himself can be one at times, certain champions and people that play DotA 2. Andrew wears a hood like all summoners, but has glowing blue eyes which always watch and never blink, as well as pale skin and combed blond hair. In combat however, it's a different story. Also known as his "game face", he displays a daring expression almost never seen in the world that gives courage to his companions and strikes fear in his opponents. _

Andrew was ready for his first league match in a long time, almost a month. He hadn't played in a while as he was busy with certain other things. He walked up to the summoning platform as he took out his summoning orb, entering the portal that would help him find opponents. He stepped into this semi-solid, gelatinous pool of energy and let it immerse him as he closed his eyes, waiting for foes.

Eventually, he heard a gong that told him a match had been found. He accepted it and found himself inside a summoning room. A high chancellor stood at the top balcony, waiting for each person to pick their champions.

"Pick your champions!" He shouted out.

Andrew struck up a pact with Zed, the master of shadows. As he linked his mind to that of the ninja, he watched everyone else pick their champions. Eventually, everyone had picked and they were all on the rift.

Zed picked up a Doran's Blade and a potion as he strutted into lane. He looked around and his allies were Irelia, Nautilus, Thresh and Ashe.

"So, Andrew, how was your day so far?" Zed asked.

Andrew was taken by shock. "I suppose it was good? Actually, I don't really know."

"Did you get any girls, or do you just scare them all off?" Zed asked, this time with the slightest hint of mocking in his voice.

Andrew said nothing this time, but he muttered a mental "Shut up." to Zed.

"Looks like our lane opponent is here," Zed said, as he watched Ahri, known by many names, some more well-known than others. She walked in, swaying her hips in an attempt to get Zed to let his guard down. But Zed was a trained assassin, and she would have to do better than that to make him lose his concentration.

"My, my, my, we're going to have so much fun with you, bad boy, aren't we?" Ahri said seductively.

Zed muted her, thanks to a special system in the rift implemented long back, and concentrated on killing each minion one at a time. While it wasn't the same as assassinating live targets, it sent a thrill through him to be sharpening his blades on something, or more specifically, someone. Every time Zed would kill a minion, Andrew would feel gold in his pocket. He was the one managing the purchases for Zed.

This all changed however, at level 6. While the two assassins had the chance to do something, they were both playing passively enough so that neither of them would die. At level six however, Zed had no qualms about going for the kill. Seeing Ahri blow a kiss at him, he looked away and performed a shadow spin, veiling himself in shadows and hiding him, at least briefly.

Zed eventually however, locked his red eyes on Ahri, and went for the kill. Ahri could only gasp as she felt herself marked for death as her playful gaze met the deadly red eyes of Zed. She turned, ready to escape, only to see a second Zed made from shadows, glaring at her. Both Zeds moved in unison, throwing a shuriken at Ahri and each one crippling one of Ahri's shoulders. She cried out in pain, ready to strike her aggressor, when Zed disappeared into the veil of shadow. Ahri then felt something claw at her life force, an echo of all the pain she had received previously, and she fell to the ground, dead.

Zed grinned. _Too easy, he thought. _

"Nice job out there!" Andrew told him.

"Thanks."

Zed went back to the base, buying a blade of the ruined king, which echoed all sorts of mad voices to him. Taking the blade and putting it into his pocket, Zed walked back into midlane, but Ahri was nowhere to be seen.

"Ahri is missing, be aware of that." Andrew told his fellow summoners.

They did not listen however. Zed saw Ahri and Master Yi closing in on Ashe and Thresh. Zed rushed down to bottom lane, and tried to even the odds as he zeroed in on Varus, their marksman. He marked Varus for death, ready to kill him, when suddenly, he heard Ashe and Thresh cry out in pain and they were dead. Turning backwards, he was ready to go back to one of his shadows, until he decided he could probably fight any of them. Looking at Ahri, he noticed her beautiful face, perfect body and her sweet scent of strawberries and cake.

That is, until he was struck dead by a sword, and he fell to the ground, defeated.

"I've got all the skills." Master Yi said, taunting Zed's already dead body.

_He actually doesn't, _Zed thought to himself.

The rest of the game went by like a breeze. Despite that first early kill, Master Yi proved to be too strong after obtaining the three kills early on, and there was no stopping him. It was awfully annoying, as he could go 4 on 1 with the team, kill them, and he would simply walk out and heal himself. Needless to say, they lost. But the worst part was that every time, every single time Master Yi would score a kill, his summoner would yell out "Outplayed." along with an equally inappropriate word at the end of it.

As Andrew left the summoning circle, he saw Ahri dragging Master Yi with him, into a spare bedroom. He resisted the urge to gag as he heard the door close. Andrew then decided to try and leave the summoning circle as soon as possible when he felt someone touch his shoulder.

He turned around to check who it was. All he saw as shadow dust.

_Zed, _he thought. Without turning around, he grabbed where he thought Zed's wrist would be, and turned around.

Sure enough, it was him, wearing an expression of anger and rage in his eyes.

"That piece of shit Yi, I've had enough of him!" Zed cried out in rage.

"I could see why." Andrew agreed with him quietly.

"And that, my friend, is why I had dragged you here." Zed said. "We are going to get our revenge."

"But you can't harm other champions," Andrew said, thinking that was his plan.

"I am aware of that. We can however, utterly humiliate and disgrace them." He said as his eyes glimmered with a sliver of malice.

_Whew, _Andrew thought in relief. That was a close one.

Zed continued "Where exactly is Master Yi?" Zed asked eager to begin his plan of revenge.

"Well you see, we can't exactly look for him right now. Or at least we shouldn't. "Andrew said.

"Why?"

"Let's just say Master Yi is having a bit of…nighttime fun with Ahri. Unless you want to see Ahri and more disgustingly, Master Yi, naked, I'd advice that we don't do that, okay?" Much to Andrew's shock, Zed only seemed more eager.

"Even better then…I got this." Zed said. "First, however, I need to get Syndra on board with this plan."

"Of course you do, we all know you have a crush on her."

Underneath the mask, Zed's face turned red. "No!"

"Sure you don't." Andrew said, laughing.

Just then, Syndra came in, and Zed pushed Andrew into a nearby bush, which, much to Andrew's misfortune, had a mushroom in it. Zed ignored the poisonous explosion as he turned to face Syndra, sweating underneath his mask, partially because it was hot, and partially because what Andrew said was true.

"Hello Syndra." Zed stiffly said.

"Hello Zed." Syndra replied.

"I need your help with some rather important matters." Zed said.

"What might those be?" She asked.

He whispered his plan into her ear, and when he was done, she only giggled.

"Okay, I'll help you." Syndra eagerly said.

Zed felt relief on the inside that his plan would come together.

Syndra went and took the Sentinel that lurked in Summoner's Rift and teleported back, carrying a rather terrified Sentinel with dark energy. It struggled and writhed in panic as it tried, though did not succeed, in freeing itself.

She then, with all her force, tossed the Sentinel at the locked door and glimpsed away. The locked door ruptured and the wood splintered like glass. Behind the door, they turned away so that they would not be blinded by the sight before them.

The Sentinel began taking mental pictures of the scene unfolding in front of him, wanting to turn away and un-see what he had just seen. For what was perhaps the worst thirty minutes of the Sentinel's life, it was bound to the ground by dark energy, forced to watch things that were better left underneath blankets as it tossed and turned in agony.

Eventually, the Sentinel's mind couldn't take it anymore. It collapsed and fell to the ground in mental pain, its mind utterly and irreversibly scarred. Syndra sealed the door with magic and dragged the Sentinel away.

"Now for the second part, we need Summoner Andrew's assistance."

Zed went to a nearby bush, and dragged a rather sick Andrew out.

"Could you help us extract the Sentinel's memories?" Zed asked.

"Got that," Andrew said. He began to incant magical incarnations to remove the mind stone of the Sentinel. The stone extracted, Andrew peered inside it to check if the memories were still there, only to faint of shock when he glimpsed inside it. The duo only laughed.

"Now, to mail it to Irelia, who is Master Yi's girlfriend," Zed said maliciously.

"Why Irelia?" Syndra asked.

Zed face palmed and said, "Because they are dating. Anyone would be ticked off if they saw their boyfriend doing _that, _let alone with Ahri."

"Alright then," Syndra said. She took the Sentinel's eye crystal and sent it to Irelia in a Christmas present, put underneath the Christmas tree for the gift exchange. She signed it with Yi's name, then left.

"I cannot thank you enough," Zed told Syndra.

"It was nothing. Maybe we should hang out sometime." Syndra told Zed.

Zed felt something swell up inside. He couldn't believe it. He wanted to thank her, to kiss her, even to reveal what was underneath that mask. He simply didn't know what the heck he was supposed to do.

Instead he simply hugged her close, and said, "Okay. I'll see you later."

_I can't wait until Irelia receives the present. _He thought, as he walked away from Syndra and Andrew, who was still lying on the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: A tribute to Helium2323, my FanFiction writing partner. Names are those of real people but the characters themselves are not.

All champions belong to Riot Games.

Summoner John, known as "Helium2323" in his circle of fellow teammates and players, is a casual player most of the time but is inspired to win. To him, nothing is more important than trying hard without being too much of a try-hard. Though his face usually wears a serious expression, his messy brown curled hair, tilted glasses and his generally wandering eyes betray his much more casual side. He checked his watch. _11:45. _Soon, he'd have a game with two of his fellow summoners, summoner Shifter and summoner Mojo. This time, they had a plan to squeeze their triple bot lane strategy without receiving the flak they usually did.

Whispering an incantation, he summoned up the spirit known as Curse, the soulless voice. Almost immediately, a holographic flame burst from the floor as Curse rose from the ground. Red flames lined with an ashen black tainted each flaming tendril. As the soft glow of the embers grew brighter and brighter, a hollow voice devoid of life spoke, and a single green eye opened.

"Why do you call upon me?" Curse said. He clearly was not happy to be called upon near midnight, but he was clearly used to it.

"Find summoners Mojo and Shifter." John commanded.

Almost immediately, John felt a sensation to each of his temples as he suddenly felt the presence of two others.

"Hey John, what's up?" Mojo said.

Shifter said nothing; or perhaps John simply couldn't make out what he was saying.

"Ready to execute Operation: Hook City?" John asked.

No one said anything comprehensible, but he heard a confident "Yes" of approval from Mojo, and he heard Shifter giggling.

"Here goes" John said, as they all together, stepped into the portal to find a worthy team along with worthy opponents.

In the portal, everything was black, but yet somehow anyone could find their way out. Ever since the release of new mental communication technology, shopping was done through the mind. When a match was found, a gong would ring inside their heads and once again mentally; they'd make a choice on whether to accept their team or decline. After around two short minutes of waiting, they were ready to enter the arena and pick their character.

"Take one: Action!" They heard Shifter's voice, somehow actually clear.

It is a common known fact that the community in the League of Legends was rather impatient for the most part, conformed to numerous unnecessary common stereotypes known as the "Meta" and more importantly, would panic and freak out if this "Meta" was broken and was not followed. In more ways than one, the Meta determined who was good and who was bad, for the most part. At this hour however, people were sleep deprived, and were too lazy to argue to the end of the earth. They would use this to their fullest advantage, as they began their plan to do something they would otherwise most probably not get away with.

They began their argument, staged to draw attention from their otherwise frowned-upon Meta breaking deeds as they began to shout obscenities at each other. While there were some summoners who complained, others who thought they were mental and even others who believed that the three of them were simply the worst of the worst. As the distraction began to sap away the other summoner's focus, John locked in Thresh, the Chain Warden, Shifter locked in Nautilus, the Titan of the Depths and Mojo locked in Blitzcrank, the Great Steam Golem. Only when it was too late did the others realize what the three had done; they would have no one covering the jungle!

Laughing like they had just told an amazing joke, the three friends had made small talk about Grade 8 and the highest ranking summoners, as they were transported to the summoning circle, where they could make mental links to their champions and they could command them .

As John entered the battlefield, already he heard Thresh's raspy voice.

"We will kill the weak, and break the strong." Thresh said, and then he cackled, a frightening noise not unlike the sound of a furnace being given wood. Thresh picked up a Doran's Blade and a potion from the shopkeeper, Nautilus picked up a Doran's Shield and Blitzcrank had picked up Doran's Ring. They all also took potions, which helped to heal wounds. The three of them took cover in a bush, waiting for a target.

Draven confidently strutted out of the jungle, content that he was not made to take any punishment. Spinning his axes like Frisbees, Draven began to strike the minions, seemingly non-living constructs, who somehow had souls. He savored every kill, as he was lost in the clanging of the minions falling to the ground until suddenly-

A massive anchor struck Draven dead in the stomach, pulling his frail body towards him was Nautilus, who swung his anchor so hard that it created a small crater that stopped Draven from moving. Just as he had gotten out of the near-death trap, a scythe came out of the bush, binding Draven in chains and squeezing every last bit of life from him, as well as squeezing every last wisp of air from him.

_Oh shit._ Draven though as his summoner frantically burned flash to get him out of harm's way, until of course; a metal arm pulled him back into the fray. He was tormented by several metal objects smashing away as he succumbed to his wounds and fell.

Throughout the game, the "Hook City" was literally ruling the map as their own city, as though they owned a monopoly. Using a combination of displacements for both friend and foe and crowd control, they chose where and when anyone went anywhere. They had in fact, ended up ending the battle at around 33 minutes and in their favor, at that.

At the end of the game, all the summoners shook hands, with the exception of Draven's summoner, who was still stuttering out curse-like words and worse. The champions also shook hands and left shortly after, as most of them would soon have another battle to fight. Shifter, Mojo and John parted ways as they bid each other farewell and walked back to their dorms.

On his way to the dorms however, John aimlessly but happily walking, bumped into a hooded girl, as he fell on the ground. He looked up, and his first thought was: Damn, she's beautiful. His second thought was: I actually know her!

In front of him was a face framed in black hair. She had one almond brown eye, one silver, and a glowing purple hand. I think her name was Sara, and that she was one of my closer….friends. That was a good word for it.

"Hey!" John said. "You're Sara, right…?"

"Well yea…hello John," Sara said. "Why exactly are you up so late, might I ask?"

"I could ask the same of you."

She laughed so softly that only I could hear it, then said "I'm an artificer, remember? I'm one of those "theory crafters", as they called us. I design items for the league of legends."

I had heard the term theory crafters exactly once, and from Shifter. Apparently he was one of them, but he instead searched for viable candidates for champions. Exactly none of the candidates he found even made it, but he was confident that he would make it eventually.

"Then prove it." I said. I tried to sound as serious as possible, but as soon as it came out, I knew I had failed.

"Alright, follow me." She told me.

I followed her to her room, and she materialized a magical key from thin air, and unlocked the door.

When I walked in, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were blueprints of all kinds scattered around, from ones about "Needlessly Hard Plating" to "Negatron Elixirs". Whatever they were, I could barely understand them. They came in various qualities, some with in-depth studies of the effects written in neat writing beside the picture, to much more abstract pictures, of which I could not tell what they were at all.

"Whoa." That was all that could come out of my mouth.

"Yeah…do you believe me now?" She asked, confidence clear in her voice.

I couldn't say anything- I was so surprised still.

Suddenly, I heard something ring as she took her phone out of her pocket.

"Hello?" She asked.

Suddenly her tone changed from neutral, to annoyed.

"What do you mean Needlessly Hard Plating is useless? There's already a Needlessly Large Rod, so why no Needlessly Hard Plating?"

"Wait. Let me get this straight. So you're saying the Needlessly Hard Plating is also needlessly expensive? That's outrageous."

"Yeah, its 1200 gold. So what? I don't even know what that Trinity Force is made out of, but it certainly costs a lot more than 1200 gold."

"Fine then. I'll see you later." She said as she hung up her phone, and clearly discouraged, sat down on her chair and put her hands on her face.

"Ummmm…Sara…are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine. It's nothing. It's just tha-" She began, but she couldn't finish her sentence as she began to cry softly at first, but then it escalated to taking in deep, strangled breaths as she struggled to contain the fact that it was her eighth attempt at the Needlessly Hard Plating, and that they had barely acknowledged all the sketches that had gone into it.

John felt a stab of pity for his poor friend, normally helpful and determined, now broken and clearly really pissed off. He actually didn't know what to do, so he put a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her as best as he could. She began to stop crying and eventually, she stood up and gave John a hug.

He whispered something in her ear, and she simply said:

"Yes, I know."

And they just stood there, together, in awkward, but peaceful silence.

Epilogue

1 Month Later…

The New Year's Summoner's Cup was beginning for the first time. And the aspiring artificers would come from all over Runeterra to claim this cup. There were three judges; Jax, the Grandmaster at Arms, Sivir, the Battle Mistress and Pantheon, the Artisan of War. Each of them were judging the candidates for Champions as well as items. It was what mortals might call a fashion walk, but this was just a lot deadlier.

Sara stood in front of the gates to the institute, ready to present her final version of the Needlessly Hard Plating, this time, lined with Anti-Matter to weigh it down. Hearing her name called out, she stepped into the stage.

Jax asked her "What is the name of this armament?", in his usual burly voice.

"The Needlessly Hard Plating."

"And what is its purpose?"

"It's a special armor that throws off the trajectory of most attacks, at the expense of speed unless of course, one has the will to overcome the weight of it. "

"Let me try." Pantheon said as he lunged towards Jax, who was wearing the armor, and attempted to stab him.

It didn't go through. The spear weighed down and barely nicked his foot.

"That is one wicked armament. One more question though; if it made it through, what would you call it?" Jax, clearly impressed, asked.

Sara had always thought of it as the "Needlessly Hard Plating", but now, it seemed like a lot more than just that.

"I name this armor Righteous Glory, in honor of the fact that with perseverance and a strong will, anything can be done."

The crowd burst into applause, no one had ever done anything like that before.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the institute…

"What is this creature that you have found?" Singed, the Mad Chemist asked.

Summoner Shifter and Summoner John stood in the biology lab, in the Organism Contest

"This is a Scuttle Crab, known in its earliest stages as a crusader crab." Shifter said

"What are it's origins?"

"Bligewater." They said in unison

"What, if anything, makes it different?"

"The Scuttle Crab is a monster which is a pacifist, in the sense that it only eats plants, and is tamed not to harm. It does not fall easily, thanks to its titanium shell. But it's undeniably most intriguing characteristic are the parasites that live inside it. These parasites burst out after the crab dies, providing it with a sixth sense even after it dies, perhaps to allow it's body to decompose in the soil peacefully, as interestingly enough, when approached, the corpse of a scuttle crab will camouflage." The two said in unison.

"Ah. One more question. Is this creature edible?"

"See for yourself." John said. Everyone, even Singed, laughed.


End file.
